


twenty

by imsodead



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 01:04:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17274188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imsodead/pseuds/imsodead
Summary: a love told through twenty different moments





	twenty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BGee93](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BGee93/gifts).



> um hi

…

 

_before the light turned green_

“Tsukki?” Kuroo calls out in surprise upon seeing the familiar glasses-wearing blonde.

The blonde turns to him, a frown on his face, “Kuroo-san?”

“Been a while!” Kuroo grins, walking over to the tall blonde, “What are you doing here?”

Tsukishima refuses to answer and instead stares at the crosswalk light, inwardly willing it to turn green.

The messy-haired boy studies him carefully and spots a familiar insignia. “Oh,” He says, realization dawning upon him, “We go to the same uni.”

Tsukishima turns to look at him so fast that Kuroo worries his head might fall off, “What?”

“I said we go to the same uni,” The older boy repeats, a smirk forming.

Horror dawns on the blonde’s face and he blanks out for a moment, nothing but profanity streaming through his mind in endless cycles. The light finally turns green, but he fails to notice this so Kuroo nudges him, “C’mon, the light’s green.”

Brought out of his thoughts, Tsukishima bolts, trying to put as much distance as he can between the two of them.

From behind him, he can hear Kuroo cackling, “This won’t be the last you’ve seen of me.”

How ominous.

 

…

 

_2 am, by the vending machines_

“What the fuck?” Tsukishima could feel his temper rise as he stares down at the vending machine. He gives the machine a few taps on the side, trying to see if it could get it to work. The machine’s lights flicker off briefly.

“Give me my fucking coffee,” The blonde scowls, resorting to shaking the vending machine rather harshly, all sense of restraint thrown out the window at the thought of being deprived of his lifeline. The machine makes no response and Tsukishima had half a mind to just throw the whole thing.

He sighs, giving the vending machine another rough shake. “Fuck this,” He mutters under his breath, head dropping to lean against the surface of the machine, “If I don’t get my coffee, I’ll die.”

On normal days, it wouldn’t have mattered, but for Tsukishima who was running on 8 cans of coffee and 0 hours of sleep, he needed as much of caffeine as he can.

“Woah, you okay?” The blonde immediately lifts his head up and turns to glare at whoever it was.

And of course, it had to be Kuroo.

“Go away, Kuroo-san,” Tsukishima mutters, leveling his glare back at the vending machine.

“Here, let me help.” Kuroo, to no one’s surprise, does not go away and instead comes closer. He stops for a moment, takes a cautious look around, and before Tsukishima could ask what he was doing, he gives the vending machine a rather hard kick.  

Tsukishima winces at the sound it makes, and he almost laughs when he sees Kuroo bent over, face scrunched in pain.

“Rude, Tsukki.” He hears Kuroo whine, “I helped you out and you repay me by laughing at my pain? Rude.”

The blonde sneers as he goes to retrieve his drink, “You did that to yourself.” He straightens up and stares at the vending machine for a moment, considering. He then retrieves more change and slips them in, almost sighing in relief when the machine dispensed his drink easily. As he picks up the second can, he glances at Kuroo from the corner of his eye and rolls his eyes when he sees the older boy rubbing his foot.

Tsukishima sighs and tosses the can at Kuroo before walking away.

 

…

 

_near your place_ _, in the rain_

“Why?” That was the only thing Tsukishima could say upon seeing a dripping wet Kuroo.

Kuroo shrugs, “I wanted to go for a walk.”

“You went for a walk?” Tsukishima stares at him blankly, “In the rain?”

Kuroo shrugs again, and they fall into silence, staring blankly at each other.

“You look like a wet cat,” The words come out before Tsukishima even notices.

Kuroo frowns, brushing away the fringe covering his eye, “Rude, Tsukki.”

They fall into silence again.

After a while, Kuroo looked like he was finally about to say something when he sneezes. 

Tsukishima sighs heavily, “Come inside.”

 

…

 

_the school grounds at 5 am_

“You’re here early,” Kuroo observes, watching as Tsukishima stiffens for a moment.

The blonde turns to face him, “So are you.”

“Volleyball practice,” The bedhead boy says, lifting his gym bag as proof, “What about you? You’re not in any sports club, are you?”

Tsukishima shakes his head, “Not everything’s about club, Kuroo-san.”

“Oh, so it’s for a class, then?” Kuroo asks, one eyebrow raised.

Tsukishima shakes his head once more, “No.”

“Then why are you here early?”

The blonde looked like he was about to say something but had given up halfway. He sighs, “I don’t know.”

“Maybe you just wanted to see me,” Kuroo grinned, slinging an arm around the blonde, “Well lucky for you, actual practice doesn’t start ‘til 6. We can hang out if you want.”

Tsukishima makes a face, “No thanks.”

 

...

 

_after class, at a flower shop_

Sometimes, Kuroo’s feet leads him to places he wouldn’t normally go in to. Today, he finds himself stumbling into a quaint flower shop, tucked between two hulking establishments.

The flower shop, although tiny-looking on the outside, housed aisles upon aisles and shelves upon shelves of colorful flowers, plants, and…Kuroo didn’t really know what they were, but he knew they were pretty to look at, which was enough for him.

After passing through a particular aisle, he stops in his tracks. “Buying something for someone, Tsukki?” Kuroo finds himself saying upon spotting the tall blonde looking through an aisle full of potted jon kill? camel? flowers.

The blonde faces him, eyes narrowing, “I work here, idiot.” And he immediately regrets saying that upon seeing Kuroo’s eyes twinkle with mischief.

“Oh?” Tsukishima badly wanted to slap that shit-eating grin off his face.

“Get out,” The blonde hisses, trying to push the older boy out of the shop.

“Fine, fine.” Kuroo says, allowing Tsukishima to drive him out.

Once the older boy was gone, Tsukishima sighs. He just knows that working at the shop won’t be as peaceful as it was before.

(And true to his previous thoughts, Tsukishima does find Kuroo walking into the shop almost every other day, choosing to do nothing but chatter away at any willing (or unwilling, in Tsukishima’s case) ear and stare at flowers, despite admitting that he was _allergic_. Fucking idiot.)

 

…

 

_at the intersection_

There is a messy blob of black from across the street and Tsukishima finds himself taking a step back.

He squints.

He just _knows_ that’s Kuroo. Nobody else would have such a mess for a hair, anyway.

For a moment, he wonders if he should go back just to avoid crossing paths with the older boy, but before he could even take another step back, the blob takes notice of him and moves closer.

“Tsukki? Where are your glasses?” The blob speaks.

“Some idiot broke them, so I need to get a new pair,” Tsukishima responds, itching to walk away already.

Kuroo looks at him, “Oh? Can you even see your way towards the clinic?”

“I’m not blind, Kuroo-san”

“What was that? You need help?” Kuroo pauses, “Weeell, I am busy, but being the kindhearted senpai that I am, I can’t just ignore my precious kouhai when they’re in need of guidance.”

The blonde opens his mouth but Kuroo doesn’t even let him retort. He moves to stand beside Tsukishima and starts pushing him along, a hand by his back to guide him.

 

…

 

_in your room, on a rainy day_

“Ah, the trains aren’t running,” Kuroo sighs softly, putting down his phone.

Tsukishima glances at him from the corner of his eye, still trying to squeeze his hair dry, “Well, it was raining hard earlier. Still is.”

Kuroo stands up, “I guess.” He walks over to his closet and wordlessly starts rummaging through, leaving the blonde to watch him in confusion. After a few minutes, the black-haired boy turns and tosses a set of clothes and a towel towards him, “Here. Go take a bath already.”

When Tsukishima makes no move to stand, Kuroo walks over, pulls him up, and steers him towards the direction of the bathroom, “Can’t have you getting sick now, Tsukki.” He clicks his tongue in disapproval, “Now go warm up and just leave your clothes by the door, I’ll dry them later.”

The blonde stares at him blankly, “Um,”

“What? You think I’ll let you go home in this kind of weather?” Kuroo asks, incredulous, “As your kind senpai, it’s my duty to make sure my precious juniors stay safe.”

Tsukishima makes a face at that and Kuroo laughs, “Now get inside, four-eyes.” He opens the door and pushes the blonde inside, “Dinner’ll be ready by the time you come out.”

“Uh, thank you,” Tsukishima says rather awkwardly but Kuroo just waves him off and closes the door.

Once he was alone and sure that Kuroo had left the immediate vicinity, Tsukishima sighed. He didn’t really know what to say or how to react to the events unfolding.

It felt like a case of déjà vu. Or rather, déjà vu but nicer.

 

…

 

_the flower shop, just before closing_

“Tsukki,” The blonde looks up, a scowl already making its way through his face, as he is met with the sight of Kuroo, one hand behind his back and a smug grin on his face.

Tsukishima sighs, wondering what kind of bullshit the boy was up to this time. “What is it, Kuroo-san?” He asks tiredly, knowing it was better to entertain him now than to endure the incessant pestering that would ensue if he ignored the older boy.

“I got you this,” the bedhead male grins, thrusting out his hand, revealing a small, poorly-strewn together, bouquet of mismatched flowers.

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “Really, Kuroo-san?” He asks, incredulously, “I work at a _flower shop_. Why are you giving me flowers from _another_ shop?”

Kuroo shrugs.

 

…

 

_at the library, just before midterms_

A pile of books drops unceremoniously onto the empty space next to him. There is the sound of a chair being dragged and a head plopping onto the table.

“I’m going to die,” Kuroo whines, face pressed against tabletop.

Tsukishima doesn’t spare him a glance. He couldn’t be bothered with the other’s dramatics right now. Instead, he scowls at the sheet of problems in front of him, trying to make sense of the numbers.

He feels someone staring at him. “You’re doing that wrong,” He startles a bit, and turns to see Kuroo peering at his work from behind him. The older boy plucks the pen out of his hand and starts writing notes and corrections at the side, “It’s better if you do this instead.”

“I didn’t ask for your help.” Tsukishima states, although he makes no attempt to stop him.

Kuroo shrugs, “You’re welcome.”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue but says nothing else, letting the older boy continue with his impromptu tutoring session.

 

…

 

_in the kitchen at 1 AM_

“Kuroo-san, what are you doing?” Kuroo almost drops the plate he was holding. He sees Tsukishima standing in the kitchen doorway, hair mussed up and eyes bleary from sleep.

The older boy sets the plate down and proceeds to turn off the stove. “I was cooking,” He says afterwards, walking over to the tall blonde and ushering him to a seat by the table.

Tsukishim squints at the clock by the fridge, “At 1 in the morning…?” A plate full of pancakes is set in front of him and he peers at it curiously.

“I thought you might get hungry from all the studying you do,” Kuroo says, setting down another plate and taking a seat across from the blonde.

“Oh,” Tsukishima blinks, picking up a fork to poke a piece of the pancake idly, “Thanks?” He finally takes a bite, chewing at his food rather slowly.

Kuroo watches the blonde in amusement. He’s never really seen the younger act so sluggish and he has never really seen the boy without his signature scowl that oozed of hostility and sarcasm. Kuroo even thinks he looked kind of cute.

 

…

 

_the school gate, after midterms_

Upon seeing Tsukishima exit the room, Kuroo stands up from his place against the wall. “So, how was it?” He asks, falling into stride with the taller boy.

The blonde doesn’t even bother to drive him away. “I’m going to get a headache.” He sighs, rubbing at his temples.

Kuroo laughs, patting the blonde’s head, “C’mon, let’s get you some cake.”

 

…

 

_the coffee shop, just before a date_

When Kuroo strides in, his signature grin on his face and a hand hidden behind his back, Tsukishima knew he was up to no good again.  
“Here,” Kuroo offers, pressing a bunch of colorful wildflowers tied together with yarn into Tsukishima’s unwilling hands.

The younger boy raises an eyebrow as he inspects the…bouquet in his hand, noting that it had been freshly picked, presumably from some innocent park or neighboring garden. “What is this?”

“Since you didn’t want flowers from another flower shop or from the one you’re working at, I got you this instead,” Kuroo grins, looking proud of himself.

“You thought picking wildflowers from some stranger’s garden was a better alternative?”

“Yep!” The older boy says, “But to be fair, I got these from the playground nearby, so it wasn’t really anyone’s property.”

He knew it was stupid and quite the childish gesture, but Kuroo seemed happy and looked so proud that Tsukishima couldn’t help the light upward turn of his lips at this, “Thanks, I guess.”

 

…

 

_before winter rushes in_

“Aren’t you cold?” Kuroo asks, watching Tsukishima approach, dressed way too lightly for the older boy’s taste.

 “It’s not that cold yet,” He mutters, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the sight of Kuroo bundled up in way too many layers, looking rather bulky and stupid. “Aren’t you too _hot_ in that?” He asks, “You look stupid with all those layers”.

Kuroo grins, “Did you just call me hot?”

“No,” Tsukishima deadpans, “I called you stupid. Why are you wearing so many layers? Winter hasn’t even started.”

“I didn’t know you were that eager to get me out of my clothes, Tsukki,” Kuroo laughs, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“Shut the fuck up, Kuroo-san.”

 

…

 

_in the streets after dark_

There’s a trail of footprints in the snow. Curious to see where it leads, Kuroo follows it.

He feels like he was in a dreamlike haze, the streets all foggy and covered in white and he wonders if the end of the trail will lead him to something magical.

The footprints stop and so does Kuroo. He looks up from the ground to see where it had brought him and _oh, it is something magical_. Because there, standing beneath a tree, was Tsukishima, snow lightly dusting his blonde hair, and his tall, lanky form bathed in the silvery glow of the moonlight.

Tsukishima turns, “Kuroo-san? What are you doing here?”

“I asked God to show me something magical and it led me to you.”

“What the fuck.”

 

…

 

_on a park bench_

“I’m tired,” Kuroo hears someone sigh next to him. He shifts to make more room on the bench, but a sudden weight settles onto his shoulder.

Kuroo almost drops his cup.

“Don’t move,” Tsukishima whispers, eyes closed, “You’re warm and I’m tired.”

Kuroo snorts, “Cold, too.”

The younger boy doesn’t respond to that and instead chooses to press against him harder, trying to sap the warmth emanating from the other. Kuroo couldn’t help but reach out and run his fingers through the blonde’s hair and was pleasantly surprised to know that it did feel as soft as he imagined it to be.

“’M only letting you ‘cause I’m too tired,” He hears Tsukishima mumble softly.

 “Sure thing,” Kuroo laughs, tugging at the jacket he’s dropped on the arm of the bench and draping it around the blonde’s shoulder.

 

…

 

_your place_

Sometimes, Tsukishima wonders what kind of bad things he’s done in his previous life to deserve a punishment like this.

He peeks in the bedroom to find a half-conscious idiot buried in piles of blankets sniffling loudly. Inwardly, he decides that his past self was a big asshole. He didn’t deserve this. (Or maybe Kenma and Akaashi were the assholes for leaving him with this kind of responsibility, he thinks bitterly. But he didn’t even do anything to them to deserve this either.)

Quietly, Tsukishima makes his way to the kitchen, setting the plastic bag he brought on the counter. He peers at his phone for a second before sighing. _Time to get to work._

…

Kuroo perks up when the door opens but makes no move to get up, only lifting the blanket a bit so he could see who came in. And to his surprise, it was Tsukishima. Carrying a tray.

He wonders if the fever’s gotten to him.

“Get up,” Ah, so this isn’t a dream? Kuroo’s confused.

Tsukishima nudges him, “Kuroo-san, get up.”

“Wha - ?” The blonde forcibly pulls the older boy to a sitting position.

“Time to eat,” Is all Tsukishima says before shoving the tray onto Kuroo’s blanket-covered lap.

“Oh.”

Getting the older boy to eat and take his medicine went by without much fanfare. After eating, Kuroo had immediately retreated underneath the comfort that was his blankets, leaving Tsukishima to clean up in silence.

The blonde sighed in relief.

Thankfully, a sick Kuroo was a slightly docile one since Tsukishima didn’t even need to completely force him to get up and eat (unlike Yamaguchi who’d throw a fit if you so as tell him to do something that would require getting up) nor did he have to put up with his endless teasing. Absently, Tsukishima thinks he even prefers this Kuroo since he was less of a pain in the ass than usual.

Tsukishima checks the time again. It was still early, but he supposes he’s done enough for the day and could leave the rest to the others. He makes a move to get up from his seat beside the bed but before he could so much as take a step away, a hand shot out from under the pile of blankets and pulled at him.

“Tsukkiiii,” Kuroo whines, tugging at the boy’s sleeve, “Don’t leave me.”

Tsukishima wordlessly removes Kuroo’s grip from his sleeve and makes his way for the door quickly. But before he could turn the knob, there is a soft thud from behind him and he sees Kuroo lying on the floor, caught up in a mess of blankets, “Come back.” He hears the blankets say.

“Kuroo-san, go back to bed.” Tsukishima feels a headache coming up just by staring at the miserable lump trying to wiggle out of the blankets. He has half a mind to go and help free him but he knows that if he did, Kuroo wouldn’t let him go.

“Tsukiiii” The blankets cry out, wiggling miserably on the floor.

Scratch that. Even when sick, Kuroo was still a pain in the ass.

“Tsukiiiii,” He continues to whine, trying to make his way out of the blankets, “Don’t go.”

“So troublesome,” Tsukishima huffs but stays nonetheless.

 

…

 

_after graduation, by the gates_

Kuroo was there again, leaning against the school gates. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at the sight, wondering what the bed-haired boy was up to.

Upon spotting the blonde, Kuroo straightens up and waves lazily, “Tsukki! Congrats!!”

Tsukishima approaches him apprehensively, “Why are you here?”

“What? Am I not allowed to see you?” Kuroo feigns offense, “And after all I’ve done for you!”

The blonde gives him a blank stare, an eyebrow raised questioningly while the older boy grins and sticks one hand in his pocket. “Here,” Kuroo tugs at the other’s hand and presses something into his palm.

Tsukishima looks at it in disbelief. He shifts his gaze to Kuroo to see what kind of joke this was but instead finds that the older boy has dropped his usual grin and looked serious for a moment.

“Move in with me.” Kuroo says, voice unusually serious and sincere.

Tsukishima doesn’t know if it’s because of the look in his eyes or if it’s because of the mood brought about by meeting him at the school gates just as the last of the sun sets and colors the sky pink and purple, but Tsukishima finds himself compelled to agree. “Okay,” He says finally, and then the stars come out.

 

…

 

_at the supermarket_

“Put that back,” Tsukishima says as soon as he hears the rattling sound of something being put in the cart he was pushing.

“But you didn’t even look at what I put,” Kuroo protests, slowly putting in more items into the cart.

Tsukishima calmly examines the row of cereal boxes beside him, “Put that back too.”

“But Tsukki!” Kuroo tries to protest again, hands already picking up more items from the shelves.

The blonde looks him straight in the eye, “No.”

Kuroo sighs, “Fine.” He slowly sifts through the pile he’s dumped into the cart, returning them back to the shelves little by little, except for one which he instead buries underneath the pile of meat.

And when it was their turn to have their items be ringed up, Kuroo freezes at the glare Tsukishima shoots him upon seeing the item. He lifts both hands up in surrender and mouths, “Just this.”

The blonde frowns, “Fine.”

 

 

…

 

_under the covers_

Kuroo wakes up to the sound of heavy rain pattering against the roof. _It’s too early_ , he thinks as he pulls the covers up further and settles against the warmth next to him. 

He feels the bed shift next to him and he cracks an eye open, seeing Tsukishima sitting up and quietly slipping out of the covers. Kuroo reaches out and tugs at the hem of the blonde’s shirt, “Stay,” he whines, trying to pull the blonde back under the comforts of his blanket.

“Kuroo-san, I have work to – ” His remaining words were cut off as Kuroo managed to pull him back down. The raven-haired male wraps an arm around his waist to prevent his escape and buries his face at the crook of Tsukishima’s neck

“No,” Kuroo mumbles, sighing in content at the warmth surrounding him from all sides, “Stay.”

Tsukishima sighs, “Kuroo-san, I have to –” But the older boy cuts him off again by whining and wrapping himself around the blonde like a koala.

The blonde groans, trying to pry off the other’s limbs but Kuroo just holds on tighter.

Tsukishima sighs again. Kuroo really was a pain in the ass.

 

…

 

_at your fingertips_

If someone had told him before that his future-self would be dating Kuroo, he would’ve outright laughed at them and probably even mocked their brain capacity for having come up with such an absurd situation. His past-self had that much faith in his future-self’s capacity to make good decisions and choose a favorable companion – one that is not a pain in the ass (like the people he finds himself surrounded with).

Turns out, his future-self had every bit of the bad decision-making his past self-had – if not more. And now, he finds himself stuck with an overgrown cat who’s all the things Tsukishima had wanted to avoid.

Kuroo notices the blonde staring and grins, stretching his arms to encase the blonde in a hug, “Love you, Tsukki.”

“Hm.” Tsukishima bats his arms away and steps back, raising an eyebrow at the older boy.

“Tsukkiii” Kuroo pouts and tries to reach for him like a baby would when wanting to be picked up, and Tsukishima just wants to smack that ugly pout off his face because it looked so dumb.

“Don’t call me that,” He huffs. Sometimes, the blonde wonders if his boyfriend was actually a child in disguise. Sometimes, he even wonders what he sees in him.

Kuroo watches him for a second, a thoughtful look on his face. “Kei,” He finally says after a moment of silence.

The sudden use of his first name catches the blonde off-guard and he could feel warmth creep up at the back of his neck. Tsukishima frowns in an attempt to stifle down the growing heat and pretend it didn’t affect him, but judging from the grin on Kuroo’s face, it must’ve it shown.

“What?” Tsukishima glares.

“Aren’t you going to say it back?”

“What?”

“I love you.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

“But?”

“Nothing.”

“Keiiii” Tsukishima really wanted to smack that idiot’s face.

He sighs heavily, “I love you, too, idiot.” And the grin he got in response was blinding and so worth it.

Because really, Kuroo may be a pain in the ass and may be all the things Tsukishima wanted to avoid, but he couldn’t deny that he was also all the things Tsukishima had wanted.

 

…

**Author's Note:**

> hello! 
> 
> @bgee93, hi i'm really sorry. this was supposed to be my gift for u way back but a lot of things happened (aka my laptop crashed n became unusable for months + i lost a lot of important files [aka almost all my recent fics]) & by the time i got it back, uni got to me (anyway, i'll message u to properly apologize + explain more)
> 
> also, this was my first time writing kurotsukki so i'm sorry if it isn't good,,,,++ this is actually something like a small snippet of a big kurotsukki fic i'm planning!! (tbh i was planning on staying away from ao3 for a bit but shit happened & now i'm sad & fics are a way to make me happy, ig??) but wow okay this is the longest i've written in a while (although i have finished this months ago)
> 
> anw, hope u liked it aaaaa
> 
> also,, i decided i need more ppl to follow so hmu on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/yosaohno)
> 
>  
> 
> edit: i want 2 die akdaskdhash im so sorry there were a lot of typos and random stuff that i missed (cant believe spellcheck failed me hhhhhhh) [also, in my defense, i worked on this at around 12 - 3 am and i was always too tired to check it over and also too angry at my keyboard to backtrack bc really,,,,my keyboard fucks up most of the time hence the missing/extra letters dskfsdkf] anw i think i fixed them all??? idk pls tell me if i missed any typos or smth aaaaaaaa


End file.
